Women’s Food & Fibre Project supports First Nations businesses

Fingerlime cheesecake anyone? Our first Indigenous Women Food and Fibre Entrepreneurs (IWFFE) workshop, held at the Bunya Mountains June 16 and 17, was heaps of fun and productive too. The participants were at various stages in their business journeys, from long-established companies such as My Dilly Bag, through to new businesses firming their trademarks, and fledgling start-ups. All of them use sustainable native grown components in their products. The women developed vision boards, shared their business experiences, and developed stronger connections and networks.

Facilitated by Michelle Blair, Arts Queensland, the workshop was organised by Jess Duff and Dr Marlyn McInnerney at the UniSQ Centre for Regional Economies (CRE) and funded by the SQNNSW Innovation Hub. Over two days, the SQNNSW Innovation Hub and the Women for Food and Fibre project welcomed and hosted the first of three workshops for nine Indigenous Women for Food and Fibre Entrepreneurs at the Bunya Mountains.

Hub First Nations Knowledge Broker Dr Raelene Ward says all of the women have either established businesses or are pursuing ideas through the workshop. “The workshop created a wonderful opportunity for women to connect culturally and share learnings,” she says.

The Indigenous Food and Fibre Women Entrepreneurs (IWFFE) project has two main components: 1) a series of workshops with Indigenous women who are food and fibre entrepreneurs to “support the exploration and development of First Nations food and fibre opportunities” 2) develop and populate an online platform to promote and amplify the great stories Indigenous women are telling about their sustainable production and their diversification projects, using mostly native food, plants through culturally safe practices that align with sustainable care for Country practices.

Several of the participants have put up their hands for intensive mentoring by Michelle Blair towards their business goals. They will also be assisted by Michelle and Alice Armitage to write their stories for the WFFF website, a IWFFE social media outlets.

The next workshop is tentatively scheduled for Thursday and Friday, 14 and 15 August. At the Roma Library.